Night of the Hunter
by sofia313
Summary: Before Kol returns to Mystic Falls to take care of the Silas situation, he has other unfinished business to take care of.
1. Chapter 1

**I may leave this as a one shot, but it can be a two shot if anyone is interested to read the second part. Just an idea that popped in my head, rated M to be safe.**

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Kol looked at the full moon above the lake and smiled. The night was perfect for a little game. He had truly been looking forward to this. There was nothing except trees around him; he enjoyed the view and the thrill of the anticipation for a moment before zooming towards the two-storey cottage by the lake. It was the only house in sight, there were no neighbors. No distraction. He could hardly wait.

Silently he passed a brand new car parked on the driveway and approached the kitchen window. The lights were on inside and the curtains were wide open. She was standing by the stove, making herself some tea. Her long honey brown hair was up in a loose ponytail and she was wearing a short satin nightie. It truly complimented her curvy body. His lips curved into a smirk, for a moment he simply observed her.

She seemed to be lost in her thoughts; carelessly she twirled the ponytail around her finger while waiting for the water to boil. He was curious to see how long it would take for her to notice him. Finally she did, her grey blue eyes widened in terror and she dropped the teacup she was holding in her hand. He gave her a charming smile before zooming to the front door and kicking it open.

"Poppy?" he called, standing right in front of the threshold.

"Go away!" she shouted from the kitchen.

"Come on now, darling, don't be rude. Can I at least get a hello?"

"No! Go away!"

She appeared from the kitchen holding a crossbow, he couldn't help but smile.

"What is that for?" he inquired. "You know stakes can't kill me."

"Go away," she repeated, aiming at his chest.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"Do I look like an idiot to you?" she snorted.

He smiled.

"No, you look very nice; I like that nightie of yours."

"Good for you. Now leave, you're not coming inside."

"Really?" he hummed and stepped over the threshold. She gasped and shot an arrow at him, but he caught it before it hit his chest.

"Now, now," he scolded. "That wasn't very nice, darling."

"How…" she muttered.

"Your friend was kind enough to invite me in," he replied. "I dropped by here earlier today."

She dropped the crossbow and ran to the kitchen; he gave her a couple of second head start before zooming after her. She was standing in front of a counter, hiding something behind her back.

"What…what do you want?" she muttered.

"You know what I want," he replied and approached her slowly, like a lion stalking its prey. "Why don't you just be a good girl and give it to me."

"No," she snapped. "You will never have it."

Her heartbeat was speeding up; he stopped for a moment and savored the scent of the blood rushing through her veins.

"We both know that you have no chance to fight me," he hummed. "Do the smart thing and give up."

She didn't say anything, she was breathing rapidly.

"Poppy?" he purred and continued approaching her. She kept her head down and didn't even try to move when he stepped in front of her. "Give it to…"

"Never!" she shouted and stabbed him in the belly, making him to let out a growl.

"Poppy!" he shouted when she ran, he heard her running upstairs. He cursed while pulling the knife out, he hadn't seen that one coming. Nice twist, although he had liked this shirt. He took his time before following her; there were no lights on upstairs. It didn't matter; he knew every inch of this house, not to mention he could easily hear her heartbeat.

"Poppy?" he purred while climbing up the stairs. "You were a very, very naughty girl, but that's alright, I do enjoy a good chase."

He stood in the dark hallway for a moment and listened.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are. I can smell your fear."

The floor squeaked under his steps, he knew exactly where she was. Another arrow was shot at him when he opened the door to the bedroom; he caught it effortlessly in the air.

"Someone needs to learn some manners," he purred and slammed her up against the wall with his body.

"No!" she cried out when he took the crossbow from her and tossed it on the floor. She was fighting him like a wild animal, but he captured her wrists easily and stretched her arms over her head.

"Now," he hummed and inhaled her sweet scent. "Where were we?"

"Get your hands off me!" she shouted, still trying to fight.

"I think you owe me for that naughty little stunt you just pulled," he stated, ignoring her angry demands. She stopped fighting and swallowed when he leaned closer, his lips almost touching hers. "How about a kiss?"

"How about you go screw yourself," she snapped and tried to kick him between the legs, but he caught her leg before she succeeded.

"Stop fighting me," he growled and lifted her leg up, making the hem of her nightie to rise up her waist. He looked down and raised his eyebrows.

"No panties? Someone is a naughty girl."

"Go to hell!" she shouted.

"Been there, done that," he replied and ran his fingers over her inner thigh. "How about I take you to heaven instead."

She gasped in shock when he touched the center of her femininity, she was most definitely aroused.

"No, don't you dare to do that you big…demon ass," she managed to gasp.

He stopped and looked at her.

"Big demon ass?"

She broke into a snigger.

"I'm sorry, too much?"

He smiled and freed her hands.

"No, darling, that was good, you played your part well. The whole stabbing thing was a nice surprise."

"I thought you might like it," she replied smiling. "I didn't hurt you too much, did I?"

She observed his belly with a worried expression; she was definitely his Poppy again.

"No," he said and lifted his shirt. "See, already healed."

She bent down and kissed his belly.

"I'm sorry for ruining the game. We can play something else if you want."

He cupped her chin and gave her a gentle kiss.

"Perhaps later and you didn't ruin anything, I enjoyed that."

She smiled and kissed his hand.

"Good, I'm glad to hear that. I love you, Kol."

She meant what she said, as strange as that was. He hadn't even believed in love before he had literally bumped into her in Denver few months ago, but now he couldn't imagine his life without her. She was everything that he wasn't, but for some reason she had been drawn to him from the beginning, just like he had been drawn to her.

"I love you too, Poppy."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for all your feedback, here's the second part. This will probably be a three shot.**

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Denver, few months earlier

"Drink, drink, drink, drink, drink, drink…Yeah!"

A group of idiots were cheering when two of them managed to successfully consume two very large steins of beer. Kol was truly in hell, he was actually holding a disposable plastic cup which entailed some cheap room temperature beer and what was even better he was surrounded by a bunch of drunken teenagers. Oh, how he loved the 21st century. Thanks a lot, Nik.

"Hey," some girl in a miniskirt said. Her tan looked everything but natural, she had way too much make up on and she was so drunk that she could barely stand. "You…you're like super hot," she stuttered. "Wanna like make out?"

Kol suppressed a need to roll his eyes and tried to recall why he was doing this again. As a favor to his dear brother who had daggered him more than once.

"As fun as that sounds…" he started, but the girl wasn't listening, she seemed to be feeling sick. No more than a second later she was throwing up on the sofa.

"What the hell, Lacy!" one of the boys shouted while the others were laughing. "Mom's going to freak out, clean that up right now!"

Alright, that's it. Kol placed the plastic cup on the coffee table and headed to the door.

"Hey, man," Jeremy's voice said. "You're leaving?"

Kol placed a polite smile on his face before turning to look at the young human.

"Yeah, I'm afraid so, I have some things to do."

"Oh, okay. I'll see you at school then."

"Yes, you have fun. But not too much fun."

Jeremy laughed.

"Don't worry, man, I'm good."

"Jeremy!" a pretty little blonde cheered and wrapped her arms around him. "You're not leaving, are you?"

"No, my friend is. See you, man."

Kol's smile vanished as soon as he turned around; he wasn't in a good mood. Bonding with some meaningless human was just as fun as having a nice long nap in the damn coffin. Lousy Nik… Kol barely made it outside when his phone started to ring. Incoming call: Annoyance no. 1. Speaking of the devil.

"Hello, Nik," he answered.

"_Kol. How are things in Denver?"_

"Oh, I'm having the best time of my life, thank you for asking."

"_How is the little Gilbert?"_

"About to get laid probably."

"_Ah. Have you two become good friends?"_

"Absolutely, we share all our thoughts and feelings, it has been wonderful."

"_Just keep an eye on him,"_ Nik huffed. _"I need him if my doppelganger decides to pull some foolish stunt again."_

"Yeah, yeah. How long do you expect me to babysit this human?"

"_I'm not sure yet, I'll let you know."_

Kol gritted his teeth and tried to remind himself why it was smart to stay on good terms with Nik at the moment. Together they had better chances of surviving when their mother would try to kill them again.

"_I'll be in touch,"_ Nik continued and hung up.

"Looking forward to that," Kol snorted. He really needed a bite; perhaps that would cheer him up. It was almost midnight, but there were still a lot of people walking on the streets. Kol remembered the time when people didn't go out after dark if they didn't have to, they had been smart enough to be afraid of the dark. Nowadays people weren't afraid of monsters anymore, they were afraid of each other.

The world truly had changed a lot during the last millennium, but some things never changed. He was alone, just like he had always been. Alone with his anger and bitterness. Not that it mattered, he had got used to it. He didn't need anyone and he certainly didn't trust anyone, including his family. Betrayal was something he had got used to, over and over again. He had himself and that was enough. What he wanted now was to find some pretty little thing to play with… He didn't have time to properly formulate his thought when someone came running from behind the corner and bumped into him quite forcefully.

"Son of a…" she cursed when she dropped her handbag and everything in it spread on the ground. "I'm so sorry, are you alright?"

The young woman standing in front of him couldn't be older than 19 or 20, her hair was up in a ponytail and she was wearing a pair of worn-out jeans and a lilac sweater. Her grey blue eyes were observing him closely, she looked worried and very tired, there were dark circles under her eyes. Something about her caught his interest immediately, although he couldn't quite put his finger on it. All he could do was staring at her until she cleared her throat.

"Are you alright?" she repeated.

His lips curved into a smile before he kneeled down in order to help her to gather her things.

"Yes, I'm fine."

She kneeled down as well, although her moves were everything but graceful, she almost lost her balance.

"That's good; I really need to learn to watch where I'm going."

"That's alright, there was no harm done."

Quickly he gathered the objects laying on the street, a phone, a small strawberry print wallet, keys, a bottle of water, an apple, some handkerchiefs, a small notebook, a pen, a hairbrush, a deodorant, a lip-gloss and a gemstone, he recognized it as tiger's eye. Probably some sort of lucky charm. She didn't notice him hiding it in his sleeve.

"Thank you so much," she sighed and stood up as fast as she could. "And again sorry."

Obviously she was in a hurry, she continued running. All his predatory instincts were wide awake now, demanding him to chase his prey. He licked his lips and put the tiger's eye in his pocket before following her. She ran across the street and took a quick look around before heading into an alley between a convenient store and a laundry. Both were closed and there was no one in sight. Perfect. He hadn't really formulated a plan, but he knew that he would enjoy this. There simply was something alluring about some humans and she was definitely one of them. A delicacy, no doubt. Silently he moved on the rooftop in order to see what she was doing in the alley.

"Logan?" she panted, exhausted because of the running. "Are you here?"

A hooded figure appeared from behind a garbage can; she breathed a sigh of relief and hugged him tightly.

"Thank goodness… I was so worried when I got your message; I came as soon as I could."

"Yeah…" the man muttered and pulled away. "I'm in a lot of trouble, sis, and I really need your help."

"What have happened?"

"Well… let's just say that I need to keep a low profile for now and I need a place to hide. You own dad's cottage now, so I need you to come there with me and invite me in."

"I… I don't own it anymore," the girl muttered.

"What?"

"I had to sell it to pay nana's hospital bills."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" the man snapped. "You sold dad's cottage without asking for my opinion?"

The girl crossed her arms before replying.

"Do I have to remind you why I owned that cottage in the first place? As far as the rest of the world concerns, you're dead, Logan, and that was your choice, not mine. And besides, how was I supposed to know where to reach you?"

"That's not the point," the man snapped. "You had no right to sell it."

"I had no right? Let me tell you something, nana needed those treatments or she would have died…"

"Who the fuck cares if that old bitch dies, she would have deserved it…"

The girl interrupted him by slapping him so hard that his head turned sideways.

"You shut your mouth! That woman raised us!"

The man growled while turning his head towards her, the black veins appeared under his eyes.

"Not very smart, sis."

"You don't scare me," she replied firmly. "You know why?"

"Do tell."

"You're a mess, Logan and I pity you. You messed everything up when you were a human and now it seems that you have done it again."

"That's rich," the man snorted. "You have no idea what I've been through."

"Likewise," she snapped. "I just worked 12 hours before coming here and I'm exhausted, but why would you care about that, you have never taken responsibility of anything."

"Blah, blah, blah, you poor mistreated martyr. I want my share of the money you got from the cottage."

"I don't have any money left, I told you I needed to pay…"

She didn't have time to finish her sentence when he slammed her against the wall.

"How about I take your blood instead?" he growled.

Kol was just about to intervene when the girl spoke.

"Go ahead, but I should warn you that I have vervain in my system."

"What? How do you know about that?"

"Oh please," the girl huffed. "I think most people would feel the need to gather all the information they can find after hearing that vampires are real."

"You think you're so smart, do you? You're nothing but a pathetic little whore."

She flinched, but she didn't say anything when he grabbed her handbag and took all the money she had in her wallet.

"Fuck you, Poppy," he snapped and zoomed away.

She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, apparently trying to pull herself together. Kol certainly hadn't expected that and for a moment he wasn't sure what to do next. The girl had vervain in her system, so obviously he wasn't going to feed on her, although he wasn't sure if he would have done that in the first place. Of course he would have, why else had he followed her? He still wasn't sure what he was doing when he jumped down. It took a moment before the girl opened her eyes, she startled when she saw him. Quickly she took the deodorant out of her handbag.

"Back off, buddy, I have pepper spray and I'm not afraid to use it."

He smiled.

"I'm pretty sure that's a deodorant."

She swallowed and tried to look confident.

"Oh yeah? Well… I can still spray it in your eyes."

"Sure you can try."

She pressed her lips together and continued aiming at him with the deodorant.

"If you're planning to rape or rob me I should warn you, I haven't slept or taken care of my personal hygiene at all during the last 24 hours, I have no money or credit cards and my phone is so old that it barely works, you'll be lucky if someone takes it for free."

"Uh huh. Are those two my only options?"

She frowned.

"Please don't tell me that you're some kind of psycho killer."

He bit his bottom lip, for some reason the whole situation amused him.

"Well… Actually I wanted to return this to you," he replied and picked up the tiger's eye out of his pocket. Her eyes widened.

"Where did you…" She paused and took a better look at him. "You're the guy I ran into. I'm sorry, I'm an idiot, this has been a very long day."

"I can see that," he replied and walked over to her. "Here."

"Thank you," she sighed and took the tiger's eye from him. "I really appreciate you bringing this back; this belonged to my mother, so it's very important to me."

"Sure, no problem. If you want to make this up to me, let me buy you a cup of coffee or whatever you like to drink."

She raised her eyebrows.

"Are you serious?"

He shrugged.

"Sure, why not. It seems to me that you could use some refreshment."

"Yeah, I do, but I don't even know your name…"

"It's Kol."

"Kol?"

"Yes, K-O-L."

"Oh. That's an unusual name. Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Kol, I'm Poppy."

She smiled while shaking his hand, there was definitely something very strange about her. His predatory instincts were most certainly awake, but he realized now that it wasn't her blood what he wanted. No, he was craving for something else entirely.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the third part, thank you for the reviews, favs and alerts :)**

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"That was nice," Poppy hummed and playfully nibbled on Kol's chest.

"Nice?" he repeated, his fingers were caressing her soft skin.

"Yeah, nice. I just hope you wouldn't have torn my nightie to shreds, I liked it."

"I'll buy you a new one," he replied and kissed the top of her head. "Although I like you more just like this."

"Well, I would probably get more tips if I would go to work like this."

"Not really, I would have to kill all the men who would dare to look at you."

"I don't think that my boss would appreciate that," she replied and leaned her head on his chest.

"I couldn't care less about your boss," he snorted. "When will you stop being so stubborn and let me to take care of my woman like a man is supposed to do?"

"I'm not that kind of woman," she stated. "I'm capable of supporting myself and I'm not going to be a waitress forever, I've told you I have big plans."

"To be a chef, yes, I remember."

"Not just a chef," she argued. "One of the top chefs in the world, people will line up for my food, you'll see."

"I can believe that," he hummed and touched her warm cheek with his thumb. It was strange how she could affect him so much, she was like a drug to him. Sweet, intoxicating drug. His mate. He had never really believed in mates, but then he had met her. She was his, like she would have been made for him. The perfect woman.

"Do you really have to go tomorrow?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. I have to take care of this Silas problem."

She pulled away and looked at him.

"I think I should come with you. You know, to watch your back."

He smiled.

"Darling, I'm over a thousand years old, I think I can manage."

She didn't seem convinced, she pouted her lips.

"I think I should still…"

"I'll be back soon," he cut in and kissed her forehead. "And I really think I need to take you back home tomorrow, your grandmother already hates me."

"No, she doesn't hate you…" Poppy paused and giggled when Kol rolled his eyes. "Alright, she hates you, but it's nothing personal, she would hate any guy I'm dating. She can be a little…difficult."

Kol frowned.

"We're not…dating," he stated, the whole word irritated him. "I have claimed you as mine."

"Yeah, about that… You know I can play that in front of your creepy friends, no offence, and I appreciate you saving me from the jerk vamps who thought that I would know where my brother is, but the thing is that you can't just…claim me, things don't work like that."

"Sure they do," he argued. "You belong to me."

"I'm your girlfriend, yes, but…"

"No, you are mine, there's nothing more to it."

She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

"Oh boy… You still have few things to learn about the 21st century."

"You think so, do you?" he hummed and positioned his arm over her hip. "Why don't you teach me then?"

She smiled and leaned closer, her soft breasts were pressing against his ribs. He licked his lips and was just about to claim her mouth, but she stopped him by placing her finger on his lips.

"I would love to, but I need to gather some strength first."

His eyebrows furrowed when she pulled away and got up, but he did enjoy watching her naked body in the dim candlelight when she bent down and picked up his shirt. There were bloodstains all over it since she had stabbed him, but she wore it either way.

"You don't mind me borrowing this, do you?"

He shook his head.

"No, not at all. It looks better on you."

She gave him a smile and headed to the door.

"Come on, I have something for you too."

"Sorry darling, but I'm really not in the mood for a blood bag…"

"Just come on," she huffed from the hallway. "It'll be worth it."

He sighed and stretched his arms; he would have rather waited for her in bed. Lazily he picked up his phone and looked at the time, 2am. Poppy often worked nightshifts so she wasn't tired, she enjoyed sleeping daytime. Kol frowned when he noticed that he had one missed call, from Mr. No Fun For You. Elijah. Kol had tried to reach him in order to find out if he knew anything about this Silas thing. Nik and Rebekah would certainly know something, he was sure of it.

After a moment of consideration, Kol tried to call Elijah back, but he didn't answer. It didn't really matter; he would go to Mystic Falls tomorrow anyway. He got up and wore his jeans before heading downstairs. Poppy loved this place; it had belonged to her father. She was in the kitchen making herself an omelet and singing the theme song from The Phantom of the Opera.

She usually sang while she cooked and she loved musicals, she had even made Kol to watch The Wizard of Oz, her favorite movie. It certainly hadn't been his kind of movie, but watching it with her had made it tolerable. For some reason all the small things that she did, her laugh and expressions, fascinated him, he especially enjoyed watching her cooking. It was her passion and even though the food itself didn't mean much to him, he loved to see the sparkle in her eyes.

"Take a seat," she said when he entered the kitchen.

"Darling, I really don't want a blood bag…"

"Good, cause you're not getting a blood bag," she cut in while placing the omelet neatly on a plate. "Take a seat."

He raised his eyebrows, but he obeyed, she poured herself a glass of juice and placed it and the plate on the table. He observed her curiously when she moved next to him. She smiled while lifting her foot on the table and pulling the hem of the shirt up.

"Your favorite artery, right? The femoral artery."

"What…"

"No need to worry," she continued. "My blood is vervain free, I stopped taking it three days ago, I think that should be enough."

"Why did you do that?" he asked, although he could barely form any clear thoughts when he stared at the treat between her legs.

"I wanted to do this for you; I want to know every part of you."

"Darling…" he muttered. "I don't think that you truly understand what you are offering to me."

"I do," she replied firmly. "I trust you."

He knew that he should say no, there would be no turning back after this, but his self-control wasn't nearly strong enough. Her blood… The blood of his mate. He had never fed on her, although he had really wanted to. Now she was offering her blood to him.

"Are you sure?" he forced himself to ask while his fingers caressed her inner thigh.

"Yes, I'm sure."

She didn't startle when his fangs came out, she looked at him calmly. Gently he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, he wanted to savor this moment. His hand cupped her bottom while he continued caressing the sensitive skin of her thigh, first with his fingers, then with his lips and tongue. Her legs were shaking a little, but his arm kept her in place, she wasn't going anywhere. The sweet scent of her arousal filled his nostrils; she was driving him crazy without even trying.

That was dangerous, she was dangerous, he was a fool and so on, but at the moment he couldn't have cared less. He would take what he was so desperately craving for and he would damn sure enjoy it, just like she would. She let out a loud moan when his fingers rubbed her most sensitive place; he wanted to distract her from all the possible pain. Surprisingly that wasn't necessary, she climaxed the moment he sank his fangs deep into her thigh. The perfect woman…

Her blood tasted like heaven, he had never tasted anything like it. All that she was truly belonged to him now, he could taste her very essence in her blood. She was shaking and breathing heavily when he pulled away, she would have collapsed if he wouldn't have gently guided her onto his lap.

"Woah…" she muttered and settled her head on his shoulder. "That was…not what I expected."

"I can say the same thing," he replied and bit his wrist. "Here, darling, drink."

For once she obeyed without arguing, he could barely suppress his urge to tease her about that. Her body felt completely relaxed, she sighed and snuggled as close to him as possible.

"Maybe we can rent this cottage again when you return," she muttered.

"That won't be necessary," he replied, his fingers were stroking her hair. "You own this."

"No, I told you I had to sell this…"

"Yes and I bought it back to you."

Slowly she raised her head and looked at him.

"What?"

"This place is yours, I bought it back to you," he repeated. "Why else would I have asked you to invite me in when we arrived here?"

She didn't seem to know what to say.

"You shouldn't have… How much did you…"

"It doesn't matter," he cut in. "And don't you dare to insult me by saying that you want to pay me back, this is a gift. I know how important this place is to you."

"Well… I couldn't pay you back even if I would want to," she muttered biting her bottom lip. "So thank you, this means a lot to me."

She smiled warmly and kissed his cheek, clearly she was happy.

"You're welcome, darling."

She leaned her head on his shoulder again, her body melting against him. It was the perfect moment of peace; he could have stayed like that forever. In that moment the world outside didn't matter, there was only him and her. After few hours he would have to leave, but that didn't matter, now he finally had something to come back to. He was no longer alone in the world.


End file.
